Insecure and in Love
by Foxboy614
Summary: *I OWN NOTHING!* During a swim, Knuckles began to dwell on his relationship with Rouge. Recently, thoughts have begun to emerge within him, making him wonder if their relationship is true. And on top of that, Rouge soon shows up with a confession of her own. (Knuxouge)


***As usual, I do not own anything. I am simply a fan doing this for fun.  
After a long hiatus, I'm trying to get back in the sing of things.**

In one of the ancient ruins up on Angel Island, Knuckles was swimming laps in a pool that Tikal had found. Knuckles was not even aware that such a pool even existed within the island. He knew of the pond and the hot spring, but not an indoor pool. Suffice to say, he was both shocked and pleased. The pool was quite big, much like an Olympic one. Heck, It may have been bigger. He had requested Chaos 0 guard the Master Emerald for him so he could check out the newly discovered pool. And since Knuckles was not really counting how many laps he was doing, he decided to keep going until he needed to catch his breath.

After maybe about twenty or so laps, Knuckles finally stopped and rested on the edge of the pool to catch his breath. He felt that he needed this swim. Not just to keep him in shape, but also to give him something else to do on the island that does not involve protecting the Master Emerald all the time. He has been trying to improve himself and have more fun. It has not been easy for him, but he was willing to try. Especially for Rouge.

Just the mere thought of Rouge made him smile. Ever since they began dating, Knuckles has begun to open up more and more. She has been the only one out of all his friends and acquaintances that has managed to do that. And with each passing day, Knuckles has begun to fall deeper in love with Rouge. But because he was so shy around her and got flustered so easily, he had a hard time telling her. There have been days where he would be right in front of her and would try so desperately to tell her how he truly felt, only for it to die on his tongue and make him leave due to embarrassment, shyness, and to calm his thundering heart.

But while Knuckles wanted to get his feelings off his chest so badly, there was another roadblock in his path; what if she rejected his love? Plus, two growing issues for him are fear and doubt. What if their relationship was all just a ploy to get him lured into a false sense of security? That way, once she got him softened up enough, she could break him and his heart before making off with the Master Emerald. The mere thought tore him apart. And because of that, Knuckles began to feel a bit… off when with Rouge. He has become much more cautious and nervous. And that lead to ANOTHER worry; if her feelings are truly genuine, will she leave him due to the way he has been acting recently.

During his moment of worrying, Knuckles did not even hear the sound of footsteps within the building. But he was shaken from his thoughts when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned his head and saw the source of the footsteps, and the focal point of his darkest fears and insecurities. It was Rouge the Bat herself. And what REALLY got Knuckles' hormones up in flames was the fact that she was wearing a pink bikini. It was not TOO skimpy, but skimpy enough to cause Knuckles' hormones to start up a party. Plus, seeing more of her smooth, tan skin was always a bonus for him. She waved flirtatiously at him before taking off her wedge-heel shoes, curling her legs up when she removed a shoe for Knuckles to get a glimpse of her long, curvy legs.

"Hey handsome." Rouge greeted. "Happy to see me?"  
"Y-Y-Yeah." Knuckles stammered. "But… how did you find this place?"  
"I learned about this place from Shadow, who learned about it from Tikal." Rouge replied. "I figured I'd come by to check it out for myself, maybe go for a swim with you. If that's ok, that is." she added.  
"Uh… s-s-sure." Knuckles replied, still stammering. Rouge noticed he was acting odd and became curious and concerned.

"Knuckles? What's wrong?" Rouge asked. Knuckles looked at her before standing up, rather quickly too, as he was not expecting her to ask him that.  
"What? Nothing's wrong." Knuckles lied. Rouge gave him a look that let him know she knew he was lying.  
"Knux… don't lie to me." she told him. "If there's something bothering you, you tell me and I'll see if it's something I can help you with."

"Rouge… I..." Knuckles stammered, unsure of how to start. Rouge stepped closer and took his masculine hands in her smaller, delicate hands.  
"Knuckles… please tell me." she said in a voice that seemed so serene and tranquil. And thankfully for her, it was enough to calm him down enough to tell her what was bugging him.  
"...I'm sorry… It's just that I've been having these thoughts that have been keeping me up at night and stressing me out." Knuckles admitted.  
"You mean like if my feelings are genuine, if I'm just softening you up to get the Master Emerald, and if I'd leave you because of how you've been acting recently?" Rouge asked gently.

Knuckles gasped under his breath. She hit every nail right smack in the head. But the question now, was how? How did she know all that? Was she some kind of mind reader?

"That… That's right!" he softly exclaimed. "How did you know that? Or better question – how COULD you know that?"  
"Tikal told me everything." Rouge admitted. "And I can read you like a book." she added. Knuckles felt his heart sink. She was going to dump him. He just knew it. Rouge sighed before speaking up again. "Knuckles… after all the tricks I've pulled on you in the past, I don't blame you for being skeptical and afraid. Plus, you've never really opened up to much of anyone. And I can relate to that. Maybe not to the extent YOU go through, but still. I may act like a flirty tease… but to be honest… I'm a little nervous sometimes myself. When you're a treasure hunter like me, many guys think of you as nothing more than a shallow gold-digger. None of them ever truly try to get to know me. But then… there's you. You got to see a side to me no one really gets to see. And… it worried me a bit… Not only that, but then I begin to wonder if you truly care about me, or if you're only playing along to spare my feelings. And it worries me… It worries me to think I've found the perfect man, only to find out his feelings for me were nothing more than an act."

Knuckles was rendered silent and stiff like a board. He never knew all of that about Rouge. And judging by the tone of her voice, it was serious. Not to mention, it was weird to hear her confident, seductive, and womanly voice become more scared and worried, like a little girl who is all alone. Needless to say, it was quite jarring. But hearing her revelation did put some parts of his mind at ease. It did not sound like she wanted Knuckles for the Emerald. But rather, she wanted Knuckles for his LOVE. Her feelings were genuine and pure. But no matter how much she opened up to him, she always had to keep her heart under lock and key. Knuckles had done the same thing himself; he kept his heart locked away to avoid it getting broken. However, he now realized that, in order to fix his current dilemma, he had to open his heart up to Rouge just as she had to open hers up to him.

Knuckles takes her delicate hands in his. "Rouge… you don't have to worry. You don't have to wonder if my feelings for you are true. They are. And I see now that so are your feelings for me. I do hope I didn't offend you with my insecurities. But while it is true that I'm protective of the Master Emerald, I do cherish you greatly as well. When you're a loner like me, you tend to be weary of people and their true intentions. But I see now that I can't go on living in my own fears and doubts."

Rouge smiled warmly and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. Knuckles was momentarily taken back, not expecting the hug. But he eased into it and hugged back, softly rubbing her back while avoiding her wings. "Thank you Knuckles… And you don't have to worry. I don't care about that Master Emerald anymore. All this time, I thought taking the Master Emerald would make me the happiest woman in the world. But now, I know that isn't so. All this time, I was after it, but the treasure I really needed… was you." she admitted. She pulled away to look him dead in the eyes. Her aqua-green eyes bore deeply into his deep purple eyes, as she wanted him to make sure he knew she was telling the truth. "I love you, Knuckles. You are the greatest treasure I could ever ask for." she said, feeling as if a thousand burdens had just been lifted from her shoulders. Knuckles smiled and caressed her cheek.  
"I love you too, Rouge. I've felt an attraction to you since the day we first met, but now I know that I love you." Knuckles said, feeling the same feeling Rouge did.

They share a moment of blissful silence before Knuckles moves one hand to the back of her head and brings her in for a tender kiss, gently brushing his lips against hers. Rouge sighed against his lips and kissed back, running her hands up his chest to lock behind his neck. They kissed for a good while, nothing too serious; just simple lip-to-lip contact and hugging. But neither cared. All that mattered now was this moment they were sharing together.

Once the need for air became too great to ignore, they broke away, locking eyes once more and blushing. In that kiss, something ignited within them. And both could see it in the others eyes; a burning passion and desire. They both burned for the other. The sweet taste of Rouge's lips left Knuckles intoxicated and longing for more. And acting on pure instinct, he decided to get another taste. Knuckles pinned Rouge against the wall, kissing her harder and with more force. It took Rouge's breath away. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him in closer as their kissing became more heated. Knuckles tilted his head to deepen the kiss, slipping his tongue in between her lips and caressing her gums. Rouge shuddered boneless aganist him and opened her mouth, granting him the access he wanted. Knuckles then forced his tongue deep inside her mouth, roaming around feverishly and covering every inch. Rouge moaned hard when his tongue met hers and began to caress it and mingle with it. Rouge allowed her tongue to return the favor, moving into his mouth before dueling with his tongue.

After what felt like hours, the two had to break away to catch their breath. When they split, there was a thin string of saliva between their tongues. Knuckles then trailed kisses along her muzzle and down her neck, feeling around for her sensitive spot. When he felt her shudder once he reached a spot on her throat, he knew he found his mark and latched his lips there. He then proceeded to lick and suck on that one spot, driving Rouge's hormones wild. She threw her head back, moaning and gasping as she clutched onto him like a sailor out at sea clinging to a piece of driftwood. After a good while, Knuckles pulled away to examine the mark he left behind. He smiled proudly before looking up at her flustered face. He smirked before kissing her deeply once more, their tongues once more locked in an erotic tango.

It wasn't long before air became vital again, forcing them to break away once more. By now, both were panting heavily as their foreheads touched. They looked each other in the eyes and smiled, their moment cooling down and their hearts beginning to calm. Knuckles gently kissed Rouge on her forehead. "I love you Rouge."  
"I love you too, my beloved treasure." Rouge said, unwrapping her legs from around his waist. Now the two lovers were simply hugging, each enjoying the others warmth, contact, and warmth.  
"So… wanna go for a swim?" Knuckles asked. Rouge looked at him and smiled.  
"Yes I do." Rouge replied. The two held hands as they went into the water together. The sounds of splashes and laughter echoed throughout the room as they enjoyed their time together.

And since that day, neither were plagued by their insecurities or fears about the other ever again.

 _ **The End**_

 **How was it? Do I still got it, or do I need to get rid of some of my rust? Let me know if you want.**  
 **God bless, and take care!**


End file.
